Regrets
by Rayst
Summary: Some time in the far future of Hyrule, Ganandorf has taken over the Kingdom, and Zelda is sent to an Academy for Rebels. This is the very short story of what happens then and there, and the regrets after. Rated T for violence.


**How long has it been? One, two, three, four... five months? Wow. Well, Sorry for the hiatus. I got kind of lazy and busy, so I didn't publish anything and barely even worked on anything. But, I decided to get back into everything, and now we have this oneshot. Okay, so it might not be a oneshot, but if you really want me to continue it, I'll have to delay After All and Shadows even more. In any case, happy reading! Also, thanks a lot for the favorites and follows. Really means a lot.**

 **EDIT: Some things, like separators, didn't transfer onto this, which may have made the story confusing. Sorry! You can reread it if you want, I just edited it.**

 **EDIT 2: I just realized that some pronouns were off and may have been confusing. Fixed now!**

* * *

Zelda Harkinian hated the King, that was for sure. But that didn't necessarily mean that she wanted to go to a school for Rebels that her father was headmaster for. Not a real school, either – a school were you learned how to fight and stuff like that to fight the King. She was surprised that it hadn't been bombed already – all other rebel activity had been fiercely shut down by the King – public executions, televised raids, things like that all burned their way into her mind, and she definitely didn't want to see it happen in front of her.

She sighed, and examined her reflection on the window of the transport she was in. Hyrule had just begun expanding to exoplanets in the past five years, and she could see carrier and cargo ships taking off from the nearby metropolis of Castle Town – her home town. She'd attended school there, met her best friends there, and done everything there. She sighed again, and was just a little upset that she was too young to remember the King's takeover – she had been three, and her mother had died in it. She stared out the window again, and saw the waist–high grass of Hyrule Field fly past her, mixed in with the occasional tree. It was a beautiful day – the sun shone brightly, and the white butts floated along in the pure blue sky. On a day like this, she would've been alone, relaxing in the park or her own house.

Her father had left when she turned five, leaving her with a Sheikah caretaker, Impa, who rode beside her. She sat with the posture of a soldier, silver hair in a single braid falling down her right shoulder. She stared at nothing in particular, and even though she wasn't connected with the rebels, she still carried a single pistol. She blinked once, Sheikah eye tattoo closing along with her eyes. Zelda's father strongly opposed the King, and had built a school to train rebels – cleverly named the Seventh Hyrule Military Academy, and it was the seventh military academy built.

She was seventeen now, and besides for the occasional brief visit or holographic chat, they had never seen each other much. The last time she had seen his face was last year, she mused. He had grown a short, gray goatee that ended in a point below his chin. He almost always wore orange ceremonial robes, with a red sash that hung around his neck and ended at his knees. He had a small mustache, and eyebrows that made him very much resemble an owl, she thought, giggling slightly. He was also bald, for the most part.

As far as Zelda could think, she didn't resemble him in the slightest – she had the deep amethyst eyes of her mother, her hair, everything about her was from her mother. Her father had joked several times that if he hadn't known her mother that well, he'd swear that Zelda was a clone. She had a slim figure, with long, slightly dirty blonde hair that fell down to past her shoulders, with two braids on either side of her face. Her skin was slightly pale, and she tended to have a look of regality about herself – perhaps due to the fact that her family was rich.

After another thirty minutes of Zelda wishing that it was all a dream, Impa spoke up.

"We should be arriving in another ten minutes," she said in her stern, but also gentle voice. Zelda simply looked over and nodded. The transport was built to be able to hold twelve, but they were the only ones inside. It wasn't luxury, either – everything was metal, save for the seat cushions. There were two machine guns on its sides, as everything seemed to be made for war.

True enough, ten minutes later, the transport slowed to a stop. The grass was slightly lower, and slightly yellower, and the ground was very flat. There was a large building that rose up out of the plains to Zelda's right. It didn't look menacing, as with all other academies, but rather peaceful – it was painted, another difference from most other metal buildings. It was three stories high, the third story being dorm rooms. All of Zelda's belongings were stored in the back of the transport, which had just disengaged from hovercraft mode. With a last, deep, sigh, she took them and stepped outside.

There was a girl to meet her. She was about the same height, with flaming red hair that fell down to a little past her shoulders. Her skin was a pale gray – a Twili descendent, Zelda guessed. She wore a gray t-shirt and jeans. Zelda was surprised that there was no uniform, but, then again, it was a Saturday. She smiled brightly.

"Hi! I'm Midna," she said brightly. "You're Zelda?" Zelda nodded.

"Here, this way. I'll help show you around for the first few days," she said. Zelda shrugged. Couldn't hurt, and this girl seemed to be pretty nice. Midna helped take some of Zelda's luggage and headed inside the Academy. The first room was a spacious atrium, with many benches around several potted plants. The walls even had paintings on them. Definitely not the menacing stereotype. At the far end, a boy, wearing a dark green long-sleeved shirt and baggy pants walked in. Zelda noticed a glint on his chest – probably a necklace. He had long, messy, tangled blonde hair that fell down to his eyes and had a fair tan. He also had piercing cobalt blue eyes that seemed to settle their gaze on her. Zelda couldn't help but notice that he looked a bit… interesting.

As he passed by he waved to her.

"Hey, Zelda." He then walked out the front door.

"Who was that?" Zelda asked Midna.

"Link," Midna responded. "He's in our grade. He's one of my friends," she continues. "And he's probably the smartest one here, and the best fighter. Except… he tends to just disappear sometimes." Zelda raises and eyebrow as they come to a stop in front of the elevator.

"You mean he cuts class?" She asks. Midna shrugs.

"Dunno. No one really knows, actually," she responds. "Just that my boyfriend Sheik usually goes with him. I've heard that he might be expelled, but I'm pretty sure the headmaster wouldn't want to lose him. Or Sheik, either," she adds. "They're both the top of their class." Zelda already didn't like him. The typical talented guys who the teachers already like, so they just slack off.

"They're nice guys, you know." Midna looks over at her. "They might seem like popular jerks, but they're not. Well, they are popular. I'm already dating Sheik, but Link's got quite a few girls lined up for him." Zelda quirks an eyebrow.

"Oh, how did he know who I was?" She asked, curious. Midna shrugged.

"It was posted, so he probably looked." Seconds later, the elevator arrives at the third floor, and the two of them get out. Midna points to a door on the right.

"This is your room," she says. "You'll be rooming with Karane. She's also one of my friends. Don't worry, she's nice." She knocks on the door twice. The door swings open and a girl with orange hair in a bun appears, smiling.

"Hi! You're Zelda, right?" Zelda nods. "I'm Karane. Nice to meet you!" Zelda smiles in return, and walks in.

"It's not that big," Karane says. "But it's nice. Your bed will be over there," she says, pointing to a separate room. "There's a small kitchen, if you want to cook, but the cafeteria has really good food. There's a bathroom in your room. That's it, besides the living room, but it's pretty nice." Zelda smiles. It was nice. Not as nice as her house, maybe, but it definitely wasn't bad.

~00~

Link was surprised. He'd never known that the headmaster had a daughter. A beautiful one at that. But she was rich. And he didn't exactly like rich people. Say what you will, but his family was poor, and he knew for a fact where all the money went – to the rich.

Okay, so maybe his family was dead. But before that, all the money went to the rich. Even when King Daphnes was in rule. And he was a genuinely good ruler. It was just all those greedy, rich bastards fault. He sighed, and shook his head.

"The Goddesses hate me, don't they?" He mused. He examined the Triforce necklace that he wore. "Sometimes I wonder why I even wear this…" A holographic image of his parents show up, and he manages a ghost of a smile. That's why.

Of course, they were also a reason why he even got into the academy – the headmaster knew his parents. But of course, he couldn't just keep disappearing to-

Well, to fight the King. All he really did was steal weapons, intercept shipments, that kind of rebel thing. Not that he could tell anyone. He'd be tortured. If he didn't cave, he'd be mind probed. If he somehow managed to resist that, well, they'd just perform a memory extraction. No one had lived through one. He wouldn't have minded that. It's just that the academy would be destroyed, along with every single member. He'd already been threatened expulsion if he 'cut class' one more time.

Today was Saturday, at least. He could do whatever he wanted. His phone rang.

"What?" Link knew who it was, it was always him on a weekend.

"I have a job for you." A voice crackles through on the other side, distorted and deep. Link rolled his eyes. On weekends, he generally went out to fight the kingdom. Most often, he did it himself, but he wasn't against accepting money – in his eyes, it was killing two stones with one bird. He preferred it that way; it seemed so much more impossible.

"You always have a job for me. What's it this time? Smuggling? Stealing?"

"Something… different." Link became interested.

"What?"

"An assassination."

~00~

Zelda hated him. He was cocksure, arrogant, a braggart, a show-off, condescending – heck, she had thirteen more words for him, and only of them was good. The worst part was that he was handsome. _Too_ handsome. She didn't trust herself with him alone, in a secluded place. At all. And the even worse part was the way he made all those _jokes_. And how he teased her. Hell, if she didn't know any better, she'd think he was flirting with her.

… He wasn't, right?

That was what was bothering her the most. It often seemed like it – his own method of flirting, but he had made it clear from the moment they formally met that he hated her – okay, strongly disliked her. He never explicitly stated it, but she could tell. It was always that smirk, he tilted his head to the left – just a little – and if she made a point he disagreed with, he'd always quirk an eyebrow ever so slightly, and make a condescending remark.

She was walking around the academy with Midna one day, when she saw him training. It would be easier to hate him, she thought, if he was a bad student. In a way, he was; he missed class often or was late, but it didn't really matter. He was a prodigy. Some of the teachers didn't necessarily like him all that much, because he was lazy, but there was nothing they could do about it.

"Why do you think he hates me so much?" Zelda, asked, out of the blue. Midna shrugged.

"Don't know. If he really hated you, don't you think he would just ignore you?" Midna responded. To this, Zelda sighed.

"I think he just wants it to be known. Also, I have him in most of my classes, so it's kind of impossible to ignore him." Midna stopped for a second.

"Actually… I think I might know," she said slowly.

"What is it?" Zelda asked, slightly curious. Midna sighed again.

"Well, you're rich, right?" Zelda nodded. "Okay. So, he was really poor. Like, dirt poor. I'm pretty sure he had to steal to survive. I'm getting this from Sheik, by the way. Anyways, his parents died when he was really young, like, three or something, and he's really had no father figure since then. I guess he just blames rich people for taking away all the money and not giving some of it to the poor."

Zelda hated to admit it, but Link had a point. It kind of was the rich's fault that there were so many poor people. It's not like it was her fault, though; she didn't have any control over that. She and Midna came to a stop under a flat canopy tree. Everything in the plains had a slight yellow tint. She watched as Link landed a spinning hook kick, destroying a training android. His movements were very fluid, she had to admit. He might even be able to beat their training instructor, if he tried.

The strange thing was, though, she had never seen him use a gun. He wasn't in her Accuracy class, but she'd seen him training plenty of times before – but never with a gun. She shrugged, and simply supposed that she just missed him. She walked back to the academy with Midna in silence. The plains were very nice, not too cold but not too hot, and there was always a gentle breeze, making the knee – high grass bend in the wind.

"Zelda, come look at this!" Karane's voice rang through into Zelda's room. She walked out into the living room, where Karane was watching the TV, and sat down next to her.

"Breaking news – a very prominent senator with close ties to King Ganandorf has just been found dead in his study, in the Lanayru Province. Police have revealed that a single bullet to the head killed him, and have identified the bullet as coming from a very rare sniper rifle, known as the Divine Intervention. All other information is being withheld. Witnesses say that they heard…"

"Wow… who do you think did it?" Zelda was quite shocked, but for some reason, she was also quite calm.

"A rebel, probably. Still, it would've been hard – security's been trebled near all political figures," Karane responded. "Must've been someone good."

~00~

"Why did you do it?"

"You don't even know that I did."

"Link, please. Don't make this difficult; I know that you assassinated that senator." The headmaster's voice was stern, but less so than the usual scolding. "Why?" Link just shrugged.

"Money."

"Sometimes, Link… money costs too much. What else did he offer you?" Link sighed again.

"The gun."

"That's it?" Link nodded. Upon the headmaster's sigh, Link just shrugged.

"It was a cool gun."

~00~

 _Knock knock._ Link sighed; he'd just gotten back from his admittedly rather amusing session with the headmaster. Him giving short, nonchalant answers, the headmaster trying to prompt him for more. In the end, he was threatened expulsion again, but he was starting to believe that they would never expel him – it'd been his fourth threatened expulsion, at least.

Link's room was rather high-tech and simple – a tri-screen computer that he had built himself in one corner, probably the best gaming computer in the universe, he mused. Next to that, he had his laptop, also custom built, also extremely powerful. It was a dark grey and also weighed less than half of the best laptops, he usually carried it around with him in a single strap backpack. He was an extremely good hacker; but he preferred not to, as even though he could bypass government protection, he couldn't protect himself from tracking.

Next to his computer was a special glove that he called the Gauntlet. It had holographic projectional capabilities, and even a mini holographic computer and keyboard that was more powerful than most computers. He could bring up nearly anything – 2D maps of wherever he wanted to infiltrate, current guard movements inside buildings, all thanks to his hacking of an obsolete but extremely good satellite in the planet's orbit. It could also receive video calls and send them out. He also included another projector on his single strap backpack that could make speaking while walking more convenient.

There was his bed, of course, and a large wall-screen on the opposite wall. One motion could send a video call onto the big screen, and he usually used it for videogames that he couldn't get on his desktop. There was also a screen table, made of display glass. The glass itself was like a computer screen; you could do anything on there that a computer could do. He was lucky; most students had to have a roommate. Rooming with Sheik wouldn't have been that bad, he mused, but he still liked the privacy.

"Who is it?" He called.

"Who do you think," a rather deep voice answered. Sheik. Link opened the door. The two rather looked alike; a similarity pointed out by many. Both had dirty blonde hair that was pretty long, both were about the same height and lean. They were both the top of their class; Sheik was second, which Link rather liked reminding him about.

Link walked over to the door and opened it. Sheik stood there in his usual attire; long sleeve shirt and jeans. He smirked.

"Expulsion again?" He asked. Link sighed.

"I don't even believe them anymore. This is probably the fourth or fifth time," he responded, closing the door after Sheik. Sheik laughed.

"Yeah, me too. So, how about I destroy you in a game of your choice?"

"…You're on."

After a good hour or so, Link and Sheik put their controllers down. Link leaned back and closed his eyes.

"So, Zelda, huh?" Sheik asked.

"What about her?" Link kept his eyes closed.

"You've got eyes for her, don't you." Link opened one eye and looked over at Sheik lazily.

"…No." Sheik laughed.

"Yeah, right. You do. Even if you told me you hated her, I can tell." Link sighed, and shrugged.

"I don't." Sheik smiled, and shook his head.

"You just don't want to admit it." Link sighed again.

"…She's hot," he finally said. Sheik grinned.

"Knew it! Can't blame you though, she is." Link quirked an eyebrow.

"Midna's gonna murder you for that one." Sheik laughed.

"Yeah, she probably will."

The next day, Link didn't turn up to any of his classes. An investigation of his room revealed that his laptop was gone, as were all his gadgets and weapons. His computer was placed on a severe lockdown that even trained government officials might not have been able to break. There were no trails near the academy, no stolen vehicles, no evidence of anyone going anywhere. He just simply… disappeared.

The headmaster had brought in Sheik for questioning but had gotten no answers, as he genuinely didn't have any. He had also conversed with Impa at length, but she was unable to think of a place where Link could have gone; the nearest city was over three hours away by transport, over a day by foot. She had agreed to organize a search party, as she was a warrior and the lack of action was making her restless.

Zelda sat in class, not paying much attention to Professor Shad as he explained some battlefield stratagems. The classroom was dull, with light brown walls and a tiled floor, but not much else. The typical boring classroom. She simply stared out the window of the second floor classroom – she was lucky to have been seated near the window, she mused – and thought about Link. True, he was nothing but a jerk and a show-off, but from what she'd heard from his friends seemed to disprove that. He was really nice, they said, just a little quiet sometimes. But yes, he could annoy (tease) someone quite a bit if he wanted to.

They all gave relatively the same reason pertaining to his and her backgrounds – he was poor, and despised the rich, for the most part. Yet even though as part of her felt happy that he was gone – she'd never have to deal with him again – another, perhaps more moral part of her, felt almost sad. Sad that she had never gotten to meet him better and perhaps even befriend him, and –

What was she thinking? She shook her head vigorously. Why would she ever want to befriend him? Just because, she thought, he was handsome. She wouldn't have minded – at all – if he were even a little nicer to her, as she'd probably be drooling over him, she thought, heat rising up to her face. She shook her head again, and tried to focus on the class. Tried, but failed.

~00~

Link shook his hair out of his eyes, squinting to see against the sun's glare. He'd made it about ten miles away from the academy already, and had taken shelter against a tree. He slightly regretted not telling anyone, of course, but even Sheik might've told the headmaster or someone eventually. He was rather pleased with himself, though. It might've taken a good deal of effort, but he managed to leave no tracks with a hoverboard he had built – if floated well above the grass, so it wouldn't leave a trail to follow.

Another hour or so, and he would arrive at the Gale. He'd read somewhere that it used to be the Gerudo Desert, but was created into a province, until the largest windstorm ever recorded turned it back into a desert. The temperature was rather cool, actually, which made it more of a wasteland. Link sighed. Once he got there, he would be nearly impossible to be tracked down. He got up, back on his hoverboard, and set out in the general direction of the Gale.

Sure enough, after another hour, Link arrived at the border between Lanayru Province and the Gale. He stopped in a store that supplied materials, and bought some simple necessities – a new pistol, accurate but rather fast firing, some ammunition, a short cloak that reached about to his waist, and a nose mask, similar to that of a ninja, and some water. He readjusted the strap to his backpack and sniper rifle, before bringing the hood of the cloak down, mask up to his nose, and heading off.

It only bothered him a little that no one had ever crossed the Gale alone. There were mainly groups, similar to expeditions, of at least ten people. However, they didn't have hoverboards which could travel much, much faster than a human, but they mainly used horses, which tired easily in the Gale. He'd heard tales of monsters, but didn't much believe them. It would take him less than a day to cross the Gale, and from there he'd arrive in a city where he could gather his bearings and meet up with some old friends, valuable allies. The wind whipped past his face, blowing his hair into his eyes. He had to squint, but even then, dust could get in his eyes. H regretted not buying goggles. He just hoped he'd get through before a sandstorm hit.

The Gale was mainly empty, slightly rolling dunes, and the occasional building rising out of the sand. They were gray, windows broken, portions missing, always leaning over to one side. There were a few large rocks, as well, and the constant floating dust from the wind gave the air a very hazy feeling. You couldn't see much farther than fifty feet.

Suddenly, Link hit a small rock, which sent him hurtling off the hoverboard. He mentally cursed himself for not setting the cruising altitude higher, before a snarl drew his attention. He whipped his head over to the right, pistol drawn. He pointed it, squinting through the dust for a sign of something, anything. Another snarl, this time deeper, closer, caused him to flinch, extending his arms more, searching for the source of the sound.

A sound – like a gust of wind, and he was knocked back at least ten feet. The force of the strike caused him to nearly vomit, coughing violently later. He was on his hands and knees, head towards the ground, panting. A huge gash on his chest, going diagonally down was dripping an unhealthy amount of blood. He covered it with his left arm, continuing to cough, before raising the gun again. This time, he was able to pinpoint the location of the snarl, and twisted away just before the creature pounced, lodging a bullet in its left shoulder. Another snarl, similar to that of a wolf, came from his left. Before he had a chance to react, another force knocked him back again. This time, it knocked blood out of his mouth, causing him to cough it up after being knocked back. He was beginning to lose consciousness, blackness creeping inwards from the outside of his vision. He was laying on his back this time, facing up towards the sky. He smiled weakly, before closing his eyes.

What did he have to regret, really? He'd lived his life well, and was generally happy. In the end, it didn't really matter whether he did what he was supposed to, or rather, wanted to, but that he tried. And that he got something out of it. Of course, there was the girl – what was her name again?

… Zelda, he remembered. He maybe regretted not at least getting to know her better, maybe even realizing that perhaps she wasn't that bad. He never really talked to her that much, and they did have some rather decent conversations, he mused. They might've even become friends. There was always an undertone to their conversations - like he didn't mean it, and maybe she didn't mind. Maybe if he just talked to her more... he sighed, smiled again, and gave himself up.

~00~

Zelda suddenly looked down at her left hand, a pain emanating from it. Like a voice, calling her to action. Like that feeling when you just know that something has happened, but you can't pinpoint it. Something that told her she had lost something, or perhaps someone, to something she might've been able to stop, if only she had been more knowing. Something gone too soon. A feeling of regret, that she never got to know this thing or person better.

And you never realize what you've lost until it happens.

* * *

 **Well, there it is. Regrets because they both have one similar regret. Yes, the Gale is based on the Scorch and the map from the GGO Bullet of Bullets thing. Also, I understand that it doesn't make sense that Link is going from Lanayru to Gerudo and was planning on going back, as that's not how the Hyrule map works, but plot. Where else would I put the Gale? Anyways, like I said, I might continue this if you guys _really_ want me to, but I probably won't.**

 **EDIT: Some things, like separators, didn't transfer onto this, which may have made the story confusing. Sorry! You can reread it if you want, I just edited it. Same with pronouns.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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